How to survive the end of the universe

The universe would live on forever, though only as a shadow of its former vibrant self. It would gradually become darker, colder, and emptier as the scant remaining matter decays or gets sucked up by the giant black holes at the core of every galaxy. Once they have gobbled up every semblance of matter, in about 10[^]100 years, even the black holes will evaporate and disappear.

That is a bleak scenario, but it’s not the bleakest, says Dartmouth College physicist Robert Caldwell. According to his calculations, the Big Chill would be a happy ending compared with something he and his colleague Marc Kamionkowski have dubbed the Big Rip. In his 2003 paper “Phantom Energy and Cosmic Doomsday,” Caldwell explored the possibility that in the future dark energy will grow even stronger. At present it makes itself felt only over huge distances, such as the gaps between clusters of galaxies, but Caldwell says that some theories indicate that dark energy might just be kicking into gear. If that is the case, then within 20 billion years—fairly early in our sojourn around a red dwarf—dark energy could start to wreak havoc on much smaller objects.

Stars would be yanked away from galaxies. Then planets would be pulled from their stars. And in one extraordinary half hour, dark energy would progressively tear even the smallest pieces of the universe apart. Layer by layer, humanity’s home planet would be dismantled—first the atmosphere, then the crust, all the way down to the core—in a fantastic explosion. “Anything resting on the planet will just—whoosh—float off,” Caldwell says. In the final 10-19 second, dark energy would rip individual atoms apart. Finally, it will tear the very fabric of space-time at the seams, marking the official end of the universe. The only solace is that life’s extinction would be quick and painless.

Scientists know too little about dark energy to determine with any certainty whether the universe’s fate is a Big Chill, a Big Rip, or neither. Caldwell and other cosmologists are studying distant supernovas to measure the universe’s expansion and explore the trend of dark energy’s influence over time. “We’re right on the dividing line between the Big Chill and the Big Rip,” Caldwell says. “The window of uncertainty includes both possibilities.”

THE LAST ESCAPE

Even in the most optimistic forecast, dark energy will eventually starve us of resources in a Big Chill, but that leaves us 10,000,000,000,000,000,000 years to perfect the most extreme survival strategy of all: escaping the universe before it chills, rips, crunches, bounces, or snaps into nothingness (yes, those are all scenarios that physicists have considered).

Starkman holds out hope that someone somewhere will figure out how to mine the remains of dead stars and generate energy: “We can do really well going from star to star, slowly consuming them.”

Many cosmologists now believe there are other universes hidden from our view—as many as 10500, according to string theory, a leading approach to unifying all the universe’s physical laws into one elegant solution. This past August, Greek and German physicists used string-theory equations to demonstrate that it may be possible to develop wormholes connecting our universe to another. With 10500 to choose from, at least one should be suitable for life.

Just don’t look to Starkman for how-to advice. Tunneling through wormholes to other universes apparently crosses his delicate line separating scientific prognostication from 2012 theology. “Now we’re really getting speculative,” he says.

I think a ship like the Battlestar Galactica would be suited best with the way its FTL works... From a visual perspective anyway. It would be a crapshoot though. You could enter the data to jump the ship as far away as you want, you just don't know where you're going to land.

NO way the USS Enterprise would be far better suited for this because it has shield generators!

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Sheild generators would be of no use in this scenario.. Though, the teleporters might. It would work in the same way as a Battlestar FTL drive. But really the only way I can see this being done with with some sort of inter-dimensional device. I don't think you can be driving along in universe #1, then just cross some border into #2.

Okay if we are going just for pure survival here the the Galactica or Pegasus would win hands due to sheer size and the fact they are basically Space "cities". Complete with there own fleet of fighters (Vipers). And I would have to have Starbuck.

I don't think you can be driving along in universe #1, then just cross some border into #2.

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Yeah me too. But do you really think that man kind will even see this day any way? I mean look at us! Barely out of dippers as it is and we are on the brink of self destruction! I think that man kind will not make it to this day. Some huge space object will wipe us out long before we ever see the end of the universe! At least I hope so!

In the 1850s, it was thought that the universe would die of "heat death" through the process of entropy...

"The heat death of the universe is a suggested ultimate fate of the universe, in which the universe has diminished to a state of no thermodynamic free energy and therefore can no longer sustain motion or life."

Yeah me too. But do you really think that man kind will even see this day any way? I mean look at us! Barely out of dippers as it is and we are on the brink of self destruction! I think that man kind will not make it to this day. Some huge space object will wipe us out long before we ever see the end of the universe! At least I hope so!

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One of the many things I find amusing is how people think I'm daft because of some of the things I tell them only for them to find the exact same information, 10 or 20 years later, on the news and in the headlines. I know I'm patting myself on the back, but fuck it. I was telling people about the dangers of an asteroid strike over 20 years ago and got labeled "crazy" by my knuckle-dragging co-workers - who weren't stupid people by any means. Ten years later it gets made into a movie. Well, I suppose I should at least be grateful that enough people saw the danger that they actually did something about it - that's more than I can say unfortunately.

In the 1850s, it was thought that the universe would die of "heat death" through the process of entropy...

"The heat death of the universe is a suggested ultimate fate of the universe, in which the universe has diminished to a state of no thermodynamic free energy and therefore can no longer sustain motion or life."

It sounds eerily similar to the "Big Chill" Our minds have to rationalize the rational world around us, yet there is still an infinite amount to ever be discovered.

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This is why I always try to preach the idea of not being bound by artificial constructs like "logic." Reason and rationality - of course, but that's not always the same thing. Until you can see beyond the limits you impose on yourself, you'll just keep recycling the same old ideas. /rant.

Yeah me too. But do you really think that man kind will even see this day any way? I mean look at us! Barely out of dippers as it is and we are on the brink of self destruction! I think that man kind will not make it to this day. Some huge space object will wipe us out long before we ever see the end of the universe! At least I hope so!

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Diapers? I don't remember having any dippers...

Humanity is a less than reasonable assumption. Homo Sapien will likely see its end long before the universe. We may be the fore runners of the fore runners of those that see the end, who knows. To think that some iteration of what we currently are will last those milennia is hubris in the extreme.

You're welcome to conjecture about the end of humanity, and its follies. At the same time, we're the only chance for Earth to still have life if a chunk of rock decides to finally come after us. Nobel or not, survival of this planet will depend on humans stepping up to the plate and solving bigger issues. Whether you have faith in good nature or not, a problem that large will bring every human together. Call me sentimental, but there's nothing like a disaster to bring people together.

i don't think we should care about this;we have our problems now which must be solved;let the people who may live after 10.000...... years (if we don't kill our-self till than) to have headache about that so "live long and prosper" ironic no?

I'm of to see my mate ford Prefect and Arthur Dent I got a towel and my hitchhikers's guide to the Galaxy)
I'm going to put my faith in the infiniate inprobability drive (its so superior when compared to warp/wormhole drives

(i read only the quote) good and accurate up to "THE LAST ESCAPE ", star trek after that

edit: actually the description of the big rip isnt that great. i thought big rip was caldwell's invention, is he the original author of the linked article or only mentioned for credibility?

during the big rip the event horizon of "your" universe will shrink over time, which means that you can't see particles beyond that event horizon and those particles won't be able to interact with the particles near you, so no gravity or electromagnetism.
this means for every observer at the same time, the observer's local view of the universe becomes smaller and smaller. i always think of star trek tng episode "remember me" when the big rip comes up